1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of semiconductor integrated circuit manufacturing, and more specifically, to a mask and a method of fabricating a mask used in extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography.
2. Discussion of Related Art
Continual improvements in optical lithography have allowed the shrinkage of semiconductor integrated circuits (IC) to produce devices with higher density and better performance. Decreasing the wavelength used for exposure improves resolution and mitigates the effects of diffraction. Deep ultraviolet (DUV) light with a wavelength of 248 or 193 nanometers (nm) is widely used for exposure through a transmissive mask fabricated from a quartz substrate. DUV light with a wavelength of 157 or 126 nm may be used for exposure through a transmissive mask made from Calcium Fluoride. However, at around the 70-nm node, Next Generation Lithography (NGL) will be needed.
NGL includes EUV lithography, electron projection lithography (EPL), and proximity x-ray lithography (PXL). PXL has been characterized the most extensively, but this technology is constrained by the requirement for a synchroton source and the difficulty of scaling down the 1X-masks. EPL is suitable for application specific integrated circuits (ASIC), but throughput is significantly degraded whenever complementary structures are patterned since two passes are required with a stencil mask. EUV lithography is best suited for manufacturing of memory chips and microprocessors since the high costs of an EUV mask and an EUV source can be spread over a higher volume of product.
EUV lithography is based on exposure with the portion of the electromagnetic spectrum having a wavelength of 10-15 nanometers. An EUV step-and-scan tool may have a 4-mirror, 4xc3x97-reduction projection system with a 0.10 Numerical Aperture (NA). Exposure is accomplished by stepping fields over a wafer and scanning an arc-shaped region of the EUV mask across each field. A critical dimension (CD) of 50-70 nm may be achieved with a depth of focus (DOF) of about 1 micrometer (um). Alternatively, an EUV step-and-scan tool may have a 6-mirror, 4xc3x97-reduction projection system with a 0.25 NA to print a smaller CD of 20-30 nm, at the expense of a reduced DOF. Other tool designs with a 5xc3x97- or a 6xc3x97-reduction projection system may also be used for EUV lithography.
A mask for DUV lithography is transmissive. Thus, the desired pattern on a DUV mask is defined by selectively removing an opaque layer, such as Chrome, to uncover portions of an underlying transparent substrate, such as quartz. However, virtually all condensed materials absorb at the EUV wavelength so a mask for EUV lithography is reflective. Consequently, the desired pattern on an EUV mask is defined by selectively removing an absorber layer to uncover portions of an underlying mirror coated on a substrate.
Thus, what is needed is an EUV mask with an improved absorber layer and a method of fabricating such an EUV mask.